I think you call it zombies — like living death. That's what I think we were.

Cyla Stundel

Biography

Cyla Tine Stundel (also found as Sztundel) was born in Czartorysk, Poland, on March 5, 1921, to a family of Orthodox Jews. They later moved to Maniewicze, which the Soviet army occupied in September 1939. The Jews lived there in relative safety until the German invasion on June 22, 1941.

In September 1942, the Germans segregated the Jewish residents into a ghetto and, within days, murdered them all. Cyla and a younger brother escaped death by fleeing into the forest the night before the executions. The rest of her family perished.

Cyla and her brother lived from day-to-day, stealing food and sleeping in the underbrush for more than two years. They emerged from hiding in 1944 after the Russians recaptured the Ukraine. In the Ukrainian city of Rovno, they were befriended by Abraham Stundel, whom Cyla subsequently married. The three traveled westward by train in search of safety. In early 1945 her brother died of tuberculosis. Finally, in December 1945, Cyla and her husband reached the Fernwald displaced persons camp near Munich, Germany. Their son, Ksiel, was born there in 1946.

In 1949, while Cyla was in her eighth month of pregnancy with their daughter, the family immigrated to the U.S. They arrived in Milwaukee on June 13, 1949. Her husband found work as a carpenter and Cyla devoted herself to raising the children. Cyla also became an active member in her neighborhood Jewish community. She continued to lead the life of an Orthodox Jew in a Polish shtetl in Milwaukee, speaking the Yiddish language and surrounding herself with friends of a similar background. Cyla eventually moved San Francisco where she died in 2009.

Audio and Transcript Information

Below are the highlights of each tape. They do not list all topics discussed. Recordings of only one tape side are marked: (no Side 2). Documents may be printed or downloaded at no cost. See Rights and Permissions

About the Interview Process

The interview was conducted by archivist Sara Leuchter during two sessions at the Stundel apartment on February 20 and March 9, 1980.

The first session lasted 90 minutes. It ended at Cyla's request due to great emotional pain. As she discussed her escape to the forest, she grew more distressed and broke down completely when speaking of the death of her brother.

The second session was conducted in a two and one-half hour taping. Cyla was often animated and at times very entertaining. She speaks with a very thick accent that can at times be difficult to understand.

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